Creosote isn't a problem with fires run at full blast like in a pizza oven. The volatiles are mostly combusted at the high fire temperatures, and the ovens are only used from time to time. The all night smolders you get from a damped down wood stove, are the problem in flue fires.

The only problem with pine in my book is that it spits and pops. In actual pizza cooking I try to switch to hardwood pieces so I don't get cinders in with the mozzarella.

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Creosote isn't a problem with fires run at full blast like in a pizza oven. The volatiles are mostly combusted at the high fire temperatures, and the ovens are only used from time to time. The all night smolders you get from a damped down wood stove, are the problem in flue fires.

The only problem with pine in my book is that it spits and pops. In actual pizza cooking I try to switch to hardwood pieces so I don't get cinders in with the mozzarella.

While I take your point, and the length of the flue supports you as well, I continue to think burning something with creosote in a masonry oven is a poor idea. Its a bad idea in a fireplace too, even a hot one. And its an awful idea in a wood stove - it didn't cross my mind someone would do that, but yeah, that's really bad. Not just because of the smoldering, but because of the cooling in the smoke column - which again is indeed less of an issue in an oven - and because of the low oxygen combustion, which seems like it would be similar in an oven - an oven is in some respects a ceramic stove.

This is my first oven, but I've been a developer/builder for years. A creosote fire is a great way to wreck a masonry fire appliance. Granted the house is unlikely to burn down too, which is the usual big fear with creosote in a fireplace.

I'd be happy to get rid of it! I've been using pine logs as landscape timbers.

Luckily I just took down an acre of oak, so I've got dried oak coming out of my ears. And poplar, which I use in the fireplace, but won't use to cook with (I've been grilling over wood logs for a while now - the oven got built as an offshoot of finally building a decent sized - 6x2.5 grate - grill.

The whole behemoth is around 16 feet x 4 feet x 12 feet tall or so. I built it into the side of the hill and put wood storage on the first level.

OK, I'm going to have to ask. What about cardboard? I realize you don't get sustained heat, but I have 3 boys. I can pull a ton of cardboard and paper out of the recycle box every week to keep quite a nice fire for a while. Any problems burning those for a while before adding wood?

Poplar - I know of no chemical reason not to burn it. My thought is more along the lines of a) it burns too fast, ie harder to regulate (more of a grill thing) b) if you are going to go to the trouble of using good ingredients like 00 flour etc, why use a wood that doesn't add? Hardwood smoke smells better to me - I use oak, because I have it, but I'm going to plant cherry and apple for that reason, so one day I'll have that.

Cardboard? As long as there isn't anything toxic I don't see any problem, but I don't think you'll get much heat out of it. I wouldn't put colored inks in there. Bear in mind you'll be eating the end product...

Cedar - no way would I do that. Softwood, and I don't think I'd like cedar flavored pizza. Its very aromatic...

The creosote offgassing into the food is not a problem because you only cook long after the creosote is long gone, you dont get any new buildup above 800deg. as far as the coals adding flavor to food I dont buy it. I do smoke in my oven, in fact I just cold smoked a nice confit pork loin which does add flavor, coals on the other hand do not produce smoke, or flavor, when my oven is up to temp there is no smoke to add a flavor to the food, I think this is a misnomer.
Eddie

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